Lost
by Hollymist
Summary: "I don't want to be a warrior!" She shouted "I want to go home!"  Kitty-pet Pumpkin is separated with everything she knows, and the only way she can survive is if she becomes a warrior. The only problem is, that is the last thing she wants to do...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer – **I do not own warriors, if I did Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight would still be together, and Scourge wouldn't have died and thank you to East Clubbers for the music provided when writing this

**Lost by Hollymist**

A warm summer breeze ruffled the fur of a ginger she-cat as she stretched in the sun, purring. A handsome tuxedo tom padded up to her and lied down as well.

"Hey Pumpkin," he meowed while grooming his paw

"Hi Prince" she meowed, her green eyes still closed "Nice day, isn't it?"

Prince nodded his head in agreement and looked at the sky. There was a single lone cloud floating in it. He lowered his head and soaked in the sun's heat.

"Prince!" a voice squawked and the black and white tom opened a single eye to see his house-folk calling him.

He sighed and looked to see that Pumpkin was still lying still.

"Bye Prince." She murmured as he padded off.

"Bye Pumpkin. Don't soak up too much Vitamin D." His back was turned so he didn't see the smile on his best friend's face.

"I do try." She said, too quiet for him to hear, and rolled on her back to sleep once again.

A loud noise woke her up suddenly and she turned to see a huge black dog racing towards her. Fear providing a rush of adrenaline, she sprinted out the garden gate.

She ran as hard as she could but she could still hear the dog's bark. If she didn't know any better, she could've sworn she heard the words 'kill' coming from it.

She managed to reach a road and halted, the hard asphalt scraping her paws as she did. The cars zooming past were too fast for her to pass, but the black dog was closing in on her. In a sudden panic, she ran across the road with her eyes firmly shut, expecting to be hit any second.

She rolled of the end of the road just as a screech came from one of the cars stopping. Pumpkin turned her head to see the black dog on the other side of the road had stopped running, but its mouth was still drooling and barking maliciously.

She had no choice but to wait for it to leave, but then the dog suddenly had a burst of courage and started to make for the road.

Pumpkin in a panic turned and ran toward the thicker undergrowth that surrounded her safe kitty-pet world and led towards a more vicious and hard place to live...

**Please review! It means a whole lot to me! This story gets way better don't worry. I know it's pretty short... I couldn't really describe what Pumpkin looked completely like in it, so she's basically an orange she-cat with a white left ear and paws, a brown splodge over her right eyes and a lighter muzzle and tail!**

**Thanks for reading (and reviewing...?)**

**-Hollymist**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Warriors; if I did Onewhisker would never have become leader ;)

**Note: **This is set in 'The Fourth Apprentice' around the time that Firestar has proposed the idea of sending up the patrols.

**Chapter 2**

Gasping for breath, Pumpkin collapsed onto the hard earthy ground. Her paws hurt and her chest throbbed as her heart pumped furiously. She had never run like that before, but, turning to check it was clear, it appeared she had lost the dog.

When she had caught her breath, she pulled herself up and examined her paws. They were bleeding, but only slightly. She licked them softly and checked for any other wounds; she was fine.

It was only then that she realized she had no idea where she was. It appeared to be a thick forest, with only a few beams of light filtering through the trees above. The floor was littered with dead leaves and mud, although it wasn't autumn yet, and they gave an earthy smell to the forest.

Pumpkin wrinkled her nose at it, preferring the clean smell of her nest. She got up and decided to go back the way she came, but soon realized that she didn't know what way that was. Everything in the forest looked the same.

She put her nose to the floor comically and tried to smell herself, but the forest's smell was too overwhelming. She slumped down on the ground in defeat and shut her eyes; surely this wasn't really happening, I mean, she couldn't _actually _be lost.

A small tear formed in her eye but it didn't run; Pumpkin just lied down on the cold floor and waited for someone to find her – her house-folk will surely look for her, and Prince wouldn't just abandon her.

Comforted by this thought, she fell asleep.

**II**

"I hate that mangy Firestar!"

A tom's harsh voice woke Pumpkin up and she turned to see that a gang of cats were heading towards her.

In a panic, she scrambled behind a tree and hoped they didn't see her.

"I know! I swear, he thinks he's the leader of the whole lake!" Another voice spoke, but it was one of a she-cat.

Pumpkin was still breathing hard and she accidently ruffled some leaves as she tried to sit still.

"Shush a minute…" a different cat said; he was male and sounded older than the others, "I think I heard something."

Pumpkin held her breath and froze as she realized he had heard her.

"Pinepaw, go check it out." He spoke again and Pumpkin heard a cat walking towards the tree she was hidden behind.

"I smell a cat Ratscar!" Pumpkin guessed it was Pinepaw who exclaimed this and stood rigid with fear.

"From what clan?" the older male voice, Ratscar, tested

"No clan. I think they're a kitty-pet." Pinepaw replied.

"Good job, Pinepaw." Pumpkin heard Ratscar walk towards her, "You might as well come out and tell us why you're on our territory now kitty-pet."

Pumpkin daren't move, and besides, her mouth had clamped itself shut with fear. She heard a cat sigh.

"Fine, Pinepaw, take care of them."

Pumpkin, realizing what 'take care of them' meant, managed to loosen her muscles and say

"Don't h-hurt me…" she walked out behind the tree to face the cats. She now saw that Pinepaw was in fact very young and probably posed no threat, but still, she had three other cats backing her up.

She noted that Ratscar, the cat who had spoked before, had a huge ugly scar across his back and looked pretty terrifying, and that the female cat was a beautiful pure white she-cat.

Her gaze finally landed on the last cat, a light brown tabby tom, and Pumpkin noticed with a jolt, that he was the most handsome tom she'd ever seen.

"Ha, pathetic. She's no bigger than a kit." The light brown tabby tom said and Pumpkin automatically defended herself.

"Actually I'm a full grown cat!" She managed to stop herself before she insulted them, as they all looked at her with evil eyes.

"No, you're a full grown kitty-pet!" The white she-cat said and Pumpkin could no longer see the beauty she had, instead it was just disgust and menace upon her face.

"Yeah, well… you're a full grown ugly cat!" she retorted even though it wasn't true.

"Ha ha!" the she-cat laughed and even the two toms and young black she-cat looked amused. Pumpkin's fur bristled with embarrassment as she had just proven she definitely wasn't a full grown cat.

"You-you may laugh now, but… I-I" she tried to find something to scare them with "I just fought off a huge dog!" she exclaimed

"Pfft, yeah right! A pipsqueak like you couldn't fight off a squirrel!" Ratscar said and everyone laughed.

Pumpkin frowned in annoyance and raked her brain to think of a good comeback.

"At least I didn't get a scar from a mouse!" She said and everyone abruptly stopped laughing. Pumpkin soon realized that she had said something wrong.

"I got this scar fighting for my clan-mates' lives kitty-pet!" his brown fur had bristled up with anger and Pumpkin shrank back in fear.

"And you got this scar for insulting a Shadowclan warrior!" Ratscar lunged at Pumpkin and bit her on her shoulder.

Pumpkin yowled in pain as his powerful jaws clamped onto her shoulder, causing blood to flow from it heavily.

She weakly scratched his belly in protest, and although it did nothing, he let go of her.

She fell down, red hot pain centered on her shoulder and she saw that blood was staining her fur red. It was a real wound.

"Ratscar, we can't leave her like this, she'll die." The light brown tabby tom said with no remorse.

"Let her die." Ratscar said and left, but the others didn't follow.

"Snowbird, help me take her to our camp." The tom said despite what Ratscar said and walked towards Pumpkin.

"Owlclaw, what will we do then?" Snowbird asked but she too was walking towards Pumpkin.

"Let Littlecloud heal her then she can return home." Owlclaw replied and picked up Pumpkin with his teeth, careful to avoid her wound.

Snowbird followed his actions and so did Pinepaw, despite the fact she hadn't been asked to, and the last thing Pumpkin remembered was being carried away before she passed out.

**Did you like it? Please PLEASE tell me! I have a good feeling about this story… let's see what happens!**

**-Hollymist**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own warriors – if I did Firestar wouldn't be such a Mary-Sue OvO

**Chapter 3**

Pumpkin groggily opened her eyes, only to shut them as light flooded into them. Slowly, she managed to wake herself up and look at her surroundings.

It appeared to be an earthy hollow, and was filled with different herbs and leaves. Pumpkin wondered how she got here, but then, as she tried to move, she remembered her shoulder.

It had cobwebs stuck to it for a reason she couldn't place, but it felt much better than before.

"Feeling better?" Pumpkin jumped as she heard a tom's voice. She turned to see Owlclaw was sitting a little way off.

Surprised that she hadn't noticed him and that he was here she simply nodded and turned away awkwardly.

Owlclaw sighed and left the hollow and Pumpkin stared after him, observing the strong muscles under his sleek tabby coat.

Just then another tom walked in, but he was much smaller, with a tabby coat. He was carrying more herbs in his mouth. Pumpkin tried to sit up but the small tom stopped her.

"Don't move - you'll open the wound again." He said matter-of-fact.

Pumpkin realized that this cat must be an experienced healer, and he didn't seem hostile at all.

"Um…where am I?" She asked timidly.

"You're in the Shadowclan Medicine-Cat's den." He replied, his back turned because he was putting herbs away.

Pumpkin cocked her head to one side, not understanding a word of that, but didn't question him again.

The tom sighed, "I'm called Littlecloud. I'm the Medicine-Cat."

"Wh-what is a Medicine-Cat?" Pumpkin asked, worried that she might offend, but Littlecloud didn't seem to mind.

"It's a cat who heals their clan members when they're injured, and they also receive messages from Starclan."

"Wh-" Pumpkin started but Littlecloud cut her off

"Starclan is our warrior ancestors. They live in the stars and when we die, we go to Starclan to help our past clan, by speaking through the Medicine-Cat and leader with signs and prophecies."

Pumpkin nodded; she had managed to understand that, though the thought that you lived in the stars when you died seemed a little far-fetched.

"You mentioned Shadowclan…is that where I am now?" She asked Littlecloud, who had finished putting away his herbs.

"Yes, there are four clans, Shadowclan, Thunderclan, Windclan and Riverclan surrounding this lake. Well, what used to be a lake…" he sighed

"Isn't it a lake anymore?"

"It's practically gone with the heat wave. Dried up, but Firestar, the Thunderclan leader, seems to think there's something blocking it." He said and it was obvious that he didn't agree with 'Firestar'.

Suddenly Pumpkin realized she recognized that name, the group of Shadowclan cats that found her were talking about how stupid he was.

"Who's the Shadowclan leader?" She wondered

"Blackstar. He's a big white tom with black paws."

"Why is he called 'Blackstar' if he's white?" Pumpkin questioned

"He used to be called Blackfoot." Littlecloud meowed and Pumpkin was really confused; why did he change his name?

Littlecloud, recognizing her confusion said "Names show what rank in a clan you are, so kits always have the word 'kit' after their first name, apprentices, er cats training to be warriors or Medicine-Cats, have 'paw' after their name, then warriors, deputies and Medicine-Cats have any word that the leader chooses after their name. And all leaders have 'star' after their name."

_I guess it makes a bit of sense, but still…it must be confusing having your name changed all the time!_

Littlecloud sighed again and went back to sorting herbs, and Pumpkin lied down again to sleep.

Just then, a handsome flaming orange tom walked in.

"Littlecloud! Crowfrost snagged a claw and is refusing to move. Oh, hey, uh…" the ginger tom looked at Pumpkin, clearly wondering her name.

"Pumpkin." She said and the tom nodded.

"Hey, I'm Flametail. Littlecloud!" he turned his attention to the small tabby and they both left.

Pumpkin sighed. Life here was weird. She couldn't wait till she could return home. Suddenly she remembered that she didn't know where home was. She was lost…

**So tempting to leave it here… but nah!**

Pumpkin lifted her head as she heard a cat walk into the Medicine-Cat's den. It was that pure white she-cat who she remembered as Snowbird.

"Hi, feeling better?" Surprised that the beautiful she-cat should care about her, Pumpkin answered,

"Um, yes, much better thanks. Why is Shadowclan looking after me?" she asked

"You would've died out there, and although the Warrior Code says we can kill to win our battles if the cat is outside of the clans, you're a kitty-pet and therefore we wouldn't call it a _battle_." She said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"What's the Warrior Code?" Pumpkin asked, surprised that the same cats that attacked her would then look after her till she was better.

"It's a list of rules that all cats in the forest follow. There are 15 altogether." Snowbird told her.

"What are they?" Pumpkin asked, intrigued.

"You don't need to know, you're not a warrior." Snowbird dismissed and Pumpkin realized that she was becoming too interested in these wild cats.

Her fur prickling with embarrassment, she lied her head down and pretended to fall asleep. Snowbird left and Pumpkin opened her eyes again.

She licked the cobwebs off her wound but stopped as Flametail walked in again.

"Oh don't! Ah no actually you can, it's stopped bleeding." He said and was followed by Littlecloud and a tuxedo tom.

"Prince?" Pumpkin said but then immediately shut up as she realized that this was Crowfrost, the cat who had snagged a claw.

The gruff black and white tom stumbled in, limping slightly,

"I don't need any help! It's just a snagged claw, honestly!" he grumbled

"Yes but it could be infected." Littlecloud said, "Sit there next to Pumpkin."

Crowfrost then looked at Pumpkin with a look of disgust.

"Pumpkin? What sort of name is that?" He meowed as he slowly sat down

"It's better than Crowfrost." She spoke clearly as to make sure he heard her.

"My name shows that I am a warrior! Your name shows you're a kitty-pet, and that's something to be ashamed of!" Although his words were harsh, he spoke them in an almost teasing tone.

But still, that didn't change the fact that Pumpkin was hurt, but she ignored it. She knew that although kitty-pets seemed pathetic to them, they were probably just jealous.

But despite her thoughts, Pumpkin still had a nagging feeling that they were right.

* * *

><p><strong>Okah there you go! If I'm slow in updating, it's because I'm working on an animation at the mo :D <strong>**Just worked out how to use Sony Vegas!**

**Oh, also I was wondering if you needed a list of allegiances?**

**Anyway, please take a small amount of time to review! Even if it's just one word! Thank you!**

**-Hollymist**


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